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Minimal Linux Live is a set of Linux shell scripts which automatically build minimal Live
Linux OS based on Linux kernel
and BusyBox. All necessary source codes are automatically
downloaded and all build operations are fully encapsulated in the scripts.

If you want to build your own Minimal Linux Live ISO image file, all you need to do is the following:

Just for convenience, make sure that all scripts are executable (chmod +x *.sh). If you decide to skip this step you
can still run the scripts like this (example): sh build_minimal_linux_live.sh

Depending on which Linux OS you are using, there might be one or more (or none, or even more) build dependencies that you
need to resolve before you start the build process. If you work with Ubuntu,
the following commands should resolve all necessary build dependencies:

sudo apt-get install wget

sudo apt-get install make

sudo apt-get install gcc

sudo apt-get install bc

sudo apt-get install syslinux

sudo apt-get install genisoimage

Execute the script build_minimal_linux_live.sh and wait. If you have resolved all build dependencies, the whole
process should take less than 30 minutes on a modern computer. If the build fails for some reason, most probably there
are unresolved build dependencies. Several users reported that the build-essential package resolves all unexpected
build dependencies for Ubuntu. If you are using Linux Mint try to
install the package g++ and if you still have troubles then try the build-essential package. On
Fedora you might need the static 'glibc' package glibc-static.
On Arch Linux and Debian
you might need to locate isolinux.bin and copy it to /usr/lib/syslinux/isolinux.bin.

Please have in mind that the build dependencies can vary a lot depending on the Linux OS which you use and the software
which you have already installed.

If you still have troubles then examine the failure message and google it. If you are unable to find solution, then you
can ask someone more experienced Linux guru (if you know any) or as alternative you can contact me. Please, make sure that
you have researched your problem in advance before you send me your question.

When the scripts finish their job you will find newly created minimal_linux_live.iso in the same folder where you
executed the scripts. You can burn the ISO image file on CD/DVD, install it on USB flash drive via
Universal USB Installer,
or run it directly via PC emulator like VirtualBox.

The produced ISO image file contains Linux kernel compiled with default options, BusyBox compiled with default options and very simple
initramfs. This means that you don't get Windows support out of the box, nor you get any fancy desktop environment. All you
get is a simple shell console which supports all BusyBox applets and... well, that's all. This is why it's called "minimal".

The good news is that even though the OS is small and simple, the build scripts are also very small and very simple. You can
quite easily learn from the scripts and later modify them to include more stuff (I encourage you to do so). After you learn
the basics you will have all the necessary tools and skills to create your own fully functional Linux based operating system!
Entirely from scratch! Isn't it great?! :)

The tutorial provides more details about the inner structure
of the scripts and the overall build process. I encourage you to go through this document when you have the time.

Below you can find several screenshots which show what the environment looks like when you boot your newly generated
Minimal Linux Live OS.

Change Log

Minimal Linux Live is now based on Linux kernel 3.16.1 and BusyBox 1.22.1.

The boot process is now based on /sbin/init and /etc/inittab. There are four
available consoles. You can switch between them with Alt + F1 up to Alt + F4.

Shell scripts have been updated. Now the downloaded source bundles are stored in separate folder.
If the download process is interrupted, it will continue the next time the scripts are executed.
The most notable change is in 5_generate_rootfs.sh which now generates root file system with
structure compatible with /sbin/init and /etc/inittab.

About This Project

I am professional Java software engineer (yes, Java developers tend to know some Linux stuff) and I've
been trying to create my own Linux OS for a very long time. There are some good tutorials which you
can find online but almost none of them are simple to follow and almost none of them explain in details
what has been done and why it's done in this particular way. In most cases the tutorials are incomplete and
there is high chance that you end up with something broken.

Don't get me wrong, you can learn a lot from these tutorials, as I did. In fact the scripts which I created
(did you take a look at them?) are based on the same information resources which you might have already found.
The difference is that this site provides you not only with detailed tutorial, but also with fully functional
set of shell scripts which automatically build fully functional live Linux OS. And the tutorial explains it
all for you!

Minimal Linux Live Tutorial

Would you like to learn how to build your own minimal live Linux OS?

The Dao of Minimal Linux Live explains in details
what steps are involved in creating simple live Linux OS entirely from scratch, the inner structure of the
build scripts (I assume you have already downloaded them) and provides you with more information on how to
improve/upgrade the generated OS with other generic stuff (e.g. users & groups, /etc/inittab).

Download Section

The latest stable scripts (07-Feb-2015) can be downloaded as ZIP archive
here.

Pre-built ISO image files generated with the latest stable scripts are available for
32-bit
and
64-bit
CPUs.